Propitiation, what is a
Propitiatory Sacrifice?by Jack Kettler
“Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach
me thy paths.” (Psalm 25:4)
In this study, we will look at
the biblical teaching regarding propitiation.
Christ’s sacrifice was a propitiatory
sacrifice. What does this mean?
As in
previous studies, we will look at definitions,
scriptures, lexical evidence, commentary
evidence and confessional support for the
purpose to glorify God in how we live. May God
be glorified always!
Propitiation:
a sacrifice that satisfies the
wrath of God and thus averts God’s wrath
toward sinners. *
Propitiation:
This means the turning away of
wrath by an offering. It is similar to
expiation but expiation does not carry the
nuances involving wrath. For the Christian the
propitiation was the shed blood of Jesus on
the cross. It turned away the wrath of God so
that He could pass "over the sins previously
committed" (Romans 3:25). It was the Father
who sent the Son to be the propitiation (1
John 4:10) for all (1 John 2:2). **
From Scripture on Propitiation:
“And
Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the
LORD'S lot fell, and offer him for a sin
offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell
to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive
before the LORD, to make an atonement with
him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into
the wilderness.” (Leviticus 16:9-10)
“Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4)
“Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God.”(Romans 3:25)
“Therefore,
He
had to be made like His brethren in all
things, so that He might become a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make propitiation for the sins of the
people.” (Hebrews 2:17 NAS)
“Who his own self
bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto
righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
From Barnes' Notes on the
Bible explaining Romans 3:25:
Whom God hath set
forth - Margin, “Fore-ordained” (προέθετο
proetheto). The word properly means, “to
place in public view;” to exhibit in a
conspicuous situation, as goods are exhibited
or exposed for sale, or as premiums or rewards
of victory were exhibited to public view in
the games of the Greeks. It sometimes has the
meaning of decreeing, purposing, or
constituting, as in the margin (compare Romans
1:13; Ephesians 1:9); and many have supposed
that this is its meaning here. But the
connection seems to require the usual
signification of the word; and it means that
God has publicly exhibited Jesus Christ as a
propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of people.
This public exhibition was made by his being
offered on the cross, in the face of angels
and of people. It was not concealed; it was
done openly. He was put to open shame; and so
put to death as to attract toward the scene
the eyes of angels, and of the inhabitants of
all worlds.
To be a
propitiation - ἱλαστήριον
hilastērion. This word occurs but in
one other place in the New Testament. Hebrews
9:5, and over it (the ark) the cherubim of
glory shadowing the mercy-seat. It is used
here to denote the lid or cover of the ark of
the covenant. It was made of gold, and over it
were the cherubim. In this sense it is often
used by the Septuagint
Exodus 25:17, "And thou shalt make a
propitiatory ἱλαστήριον hilastērion of
gold," Exodus 18-20, 22; Exodus 30:6; Exodus
31:7; Exodus 35:11; Exodus 37:6-9; Exodus
40:18; Leviticus 16:2, Leviticus 16:13. The
Hebrew name for this was כפּרת
kaphoreth, from the verb כּפר
kaaphar, "to cover" or "to conceal." It
was from this place that God was represented
as speaking to the children of Israel. Exodus
25:22, "and I will speak to thee from above
the Hilasterion,
the propitiatory, the mercy-seat. Leviticus
16:2, "For I will appear in the cloud upon the
mercy-seat." This seat, or cover, was covered
with the smoke of the incense, when the high
priest entered the most holy place, Leviticus
16:13.
And the blood of
the bullock offered on the great day of
atonement, was to be sprinkled “upon the
mercy-seat,” and “before the mercy-seat,”
“seven times,” Leviticus 16:14-15. This
sprinkling or offering of blood was called
making “an atonement for the holy place
because of the uncleanness of the children of
Israel,” etc. Leviticus 16:16. It was from
this mercy-seat that God pronounced pardon, or
expressed himself as reconciled to his people.
The atonement was made, the blood was
sprinkled, and the reconciliation thus
effected. The name was thus given to that
cover of the ark, because it was the place
from which God declared himself reconciled to
his people. Still the inquiry is, why is this
name given to Jesus Christ? In what sense is
he declared to be a propitiation? It is
evident that it cannot be applied to him in
any literal sense. Between the golden cover of
the ark of the covenant and the Lord Jesus,
the analogy must be very slight, if any such
analogy can be perceived. We may observe,
however,
(1) That the main
idea, in regard to the cover of the ark called
the mercy-seat, was that of God's being
reconciled to his people; and that this is the
main idea in regard to the Lord Jesus whom
"God hath set forth."
(2) this
reconciliation was effected then by the
sprinkling of blood on the mercy-seat,
Leviticus 16:15-16. The same is true of the
Lord Jesus - by blood.
(3) in the former
case it was by the blood of atonement; the
offering of the bullock on the great day of
atonement, that the reconciliation was
effected, Leviticus 16:17-18. In the case of
the Lord Jesus it was also by blood; by the
blood of atonement. But it was by his own
blood. This the apostle distinctly states in
this verse.
(4) in the former
case there was a sacrifice, or expiatory
offering; and so it is in reconciliation by
the Lord Jesus. In the former, the mercy-seat
was the visible, declared place where God
would express his reconciliation with his
people. So in the latter, the offering of the
Lord Jesus is the manifest and open way by
which God will be reconciled to people.
(5) in the
former, there was joined the idea of a
sacrifice for sin, Leviticus 16. So in the
latter. And hence, the main idea of the
apostle here is to convey the idea of a
sacrifice for sin; or to set forth the Lord
Jesus as such a sacrifice. Hence, the word
“propitiation” in the original may express the
idea of a propitiatory sacrifice, as well as
the cover to the ark. The word is an
adjective, and may be joined to the noun
sacrifice, as well as to denote the mercy-seat
of the ark. This meaning accords also with its
classic meaning to denote a propitiatory
offering, or an offering to produce
reconciliation. Christ is thus represented,
not as a mercy-seat, which would be
unintelligible; but as the medium, the
offering, the expiation, by which
reconciliation is produced between God and
man.
Through faith -
Or by means of faith. The offering will be of
no avail without faith. The offering has been
made; but it will not be applied, except where
there is faith. He has made an offering which
may be efficacious in putting away sin; but it
produces no reconciliation, no pardon, except
where it is accepted by faith.
In his blood - Or
in his death - his bloody death. Among the
Jews, the blood was regarded as the seat of
life, or vitality. Leviticus 17:11, “the life
of the flesh is in the blood.” Hence, they
were commanded not to eat blood. Genesis 9:4,
“but flesh with the life thereof, which is the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat.” Leviticus
19:26; Deuteronomy 12:23; 1 Samuel 14:34. This
doctrine is contained uniformly in the Sacred
Scriptures. And it has been also the opinion
of not a few celebrated physiologists, as well
in modern as in ancient times. The same was
the opinion of the ancient Parsees and Hindus.
Homer thus often speaks of blood as the seat
of life, as in the expression πορφυρεος
θανατος porphureos thanatos, or “purple
death.” And Virgil speaks of “purple life,”
Purpuream vomit ille animam.
AEniad, ix. 349.
Empedocles and
Critias among the Greek philosophers, also
embraced this opinion. Among the moderns,
Harvey, to whom we are indebted for a
knowledge of the circulation of the blood,
fully believed it. Hoffman and Huxham believed
it Dr. John Hunter has fully adopted the
belief, and sustained it, as he supposed, by a
great variety of considerations. See Good's
Book of Nature, pp. 102, 108, New York
edition, 1828. This was undoubtedly the
doctrine of the Hebrews; and hence, with them
to shed the blood was a phrase signifying to
kill; hence, the efficacy of their sacrifices
was supposed to consist in the blood, that is,
in the life of the victim. Hence, it was
unlawful to eat it, as it were the life, the
seat of vitality; the more immediate and
direct gift of God. When, therefore, the blood
of Christ is spoken of in the New Testament,
it means the offering of his life as a
sacrifice, or his death as an expiation. His
life was given to make atonement. See the word
“blood” thus used in Romans 5:9; Ephesians
1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews
9:14; Hebrews 13:12; Revelation 1:5; 1 Peter
1:19; 1 John 1:7. By faith in his death as a
sacrifice for sin; by believing that he took
our sins; that he died in our place; by thus,
in some sense, making his offering ours; by
approving it, loving it, embracing it,
trusting it, our sins become pardoned, and our
souls made pure.
To declare - εἰς
ἔνδειξις eis endeixis. For “the
purpose” of showing, or exhibiting; to present
it to man. The meaning is, that the plan was
adopted; the Saviour was given; he suffered
and died: and the scheme is proposed to
people, for the purpose of making a full
manifestation of his plan, in
contradistinction from all the plans of
people. (1)
PROPITIATION from the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:
pro-pish-i-a'-shun:
1. Terms and
Meaning:
The word is Latin
and brings into its English use the atmosphere
of heathen rites for winning the favor, or
averting the anger, of the gods. In the Old
Testament it represents a number of Hebrew
words--ten, including derivatives--which are
sufficiently discussed under ATONEMENT (which
see), of which propitiation is one aspect. It
represents in Septuagint
the Greek stems hilask-
(hile-),
and katallag-,
with
derivatives; in the New Testament only the
latter, and is rarely used. Propitiation needs
to be studied in connection with
reconciliation, which is used frequently in
some of the most strategic sentences of the
New Testament, especially in the newer
versions in Hebrews 2:17, the English Revised
Version and the American Standard Revised
Version have both changed “reconciliation” of
the King James Version to “propitiation,” to
make it correspond with the Old Testament use
in connection with the sacrifice on the DAY OF
ATONEMENT (which see). Luke 18:13 (“God, be
thou merciful (margin “be propitiated”) to me
the sinner” (the American Standard Revised
Version margin)); Hebrews 8:12 (quoted from
the Septuagint); and Matthew 16:22 (an
idiomatic asseveration like English "mercy on
us") will help in getting at the usage in the
New Testament. In Septuagint
hilasterion is the term for the
“mercy-seat” or “lid of the ark” of the
covenant which was sprinkled with blood on the
Day of Atonement. It is employed in exactly
this sense in Hebrews 9:5, where later
versions have in the margin “the
propitiatory.”
Elsewhere in the
New Testament this form is found only in
Romans 3:25, and it is here that difficulty
and difference are found extensively in
interpreting. Greek fathers generally and
prominent modern scholars understand Paul here
to say that God appointed Christ Jesus to be
the “mercy-seat” for sinners. The reference,
while primarily to the Jewish ceremonial in
tabernacle and temple, would not depend upon
this reference for its comprehension, for the
idea was general in religious thought, that
some place and means had to be provided for
securing friendly meeting with the Deity,
offended by man's sin. In Hebrews
particularly, as elsewhere generally, Jesus
Christ is presented as priest and sacrifice.
Many modern writers (compare Sanday and
Headlam), therefore, object that to make Him
the “mercy-seat” here complicates the figure
still further, and so would understand hilasterion
as “expiatory sacrifice.” While this is not
impossible, it is better to take the word in
the usual sense of “mercy-seat.” It is not
necessary to complicate the illustration by
bringing in the idea of priest at all here,
since Paul does not do so; mercy-seat and
sacrifice are both in Christ. Hilasmos,
is found in the New Testament only in 1John
2:2; 4:10. Here the idea is active grace, or
mercy, or friendliness. The teaching
corresponds exactly with that in Romans.
“Jesus Christ the righteous” is our “Advocate
(margin “Helper”) with the Father,” because He
is active mercy concerning (peri)
our sins and those of the whole world. Or
(Romans 4:10), God “loved us, and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for (active mercy
concerning) our sins.” This last passage is
parallel with Romans 3:25, the one dealing
with the abstract theory, and so Christ is set
forward as a “mercy-seat,” the other dealing
with experience of grace, and so Christ is the
mercy of God in concrete expression.
2. Theological
Implication:
The basal idea in
Hebrew terms is that of covering what is
offensive, so restoring friendship, or causing
to be kindly disposed. The Greek terms lack
the physical reference to covering but
introduce the idea of friendliness where
antagonism would be natural; hence,
graciousness. Naturally, therefore, the idea
of expiation entered into the concept. It is
especially to be noted that all provisions for
this friendly relation as between God and
offending man find their initiation and
provision in God and are under His direction,
but involve the active response of man. All
heathen and unworthy conceptions are removed
from the Christian notion of propitiation by
the fact that God Himself proposed, or "set
forth," Christ as the “mercy-seat,” and that
this is the supreme expression of ultimate
love. God had all the while been merciful,
friendly, “passing over” man's sins with no
apparently adequate, or just, ground for doing
so. Now in the blood of Christ sin is
condemned and expiated, and God is able to
establish and maintain His character for
righteousness, while He continues and extends
His dealing in gracious love with sinners who
exercise faith in Jesus. The propitiation
originates with God, not to appease Himself,
but to justify Himself in His uniform kindness
to men deserving harshness. Compare also as to
reconciliation, as in Romans 5:1-11; 2
Corinthians 5:18.
See also
JOHANNINE THEOLOGY, V, 2.
LITERATURE.
Besides the
comms., the literature is the same as for
ATONEMENT, to recent works on which add
Stalker, The Atonement; Workman, At
Onement, or Reconciliation with God; Moberly,
in Foundations,
Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought.
William Owen Carver (2)
Webster's Revised
Unabridged Dictionary:
1. (n.) The act
of appeasing the wrath and conciliating the
favor of an offended person; the act of making
propitious.
2. (n.) That
which propitiates; atonement or atoning
sacrifice; specifically, the influence or
effects of the death of Christ in appeasing
the divine justice, and conciliating the
divine favor.
Strong’s Greek
2434. hilasmos
-- propitiation
propitiation.
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: hilasmos
Phonetic
Spelling: (hil-as-mos')
Short
Definition: a propitiation, atoning sacrifice
...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2434.htm
Strong's Hebrew
3722a. kaphar
-- to cover over, pacify, make propitiation
3722, 3722a. kaphar.
3722b. to cover over, pacify, make
propitiation.
Transliteration:
kaphar
Short Definition: atonement. Word ...
/Hebrew/3722a.htm
Propitiation by John
Murray:
This fact does
not mean, however, that the atoning work of
Christ is not to be interpreted in terms of
propitiation.5 There are passages in which the
language of propitiation is expressly applied
to the work of Christ (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; I
John 2:2; 4:10). And this means, without
question, that the work of Christ is to be
construed as propitiation. But there is also
another consideration. The frequency with
which the concept appears in the Old Testament
in connection with the sacrificial ritual, the
fact that the New Testament applies to the
work of Christ the very term which denoted
this concept in the Greek Old Testament, and
the fact that the New Testament regards the
Levitical ritual as providing the pattern for
the sacrifice of Christ lead to the conclusion
that this is a category in terms of which the
sacrifice of Christ is not only properly but
necessarily interpreted. In other words, the
idea of propitiation is so woven into the
fabric of the Old Testament ritual that it
would be impossible to regard that ritual as
the pattern of the sacrifice of Christ if
propitiation did not occupy a similar place in
the one great sacrifice once offered. This is
but another way of saying that sacrifice and
propitiation stand in the closest relations
with one another. The express application of
the term "propitiation" to the work of Christ
by the New Testament writers is the
confirmation of this conclusion.
But what does
propitiation mean? In the Hebrew of the Old
Testament it is expressed by a word which
means to “cover.” In connection with this
covering there are, in particular, three
things to be noted:
1.
it is in reference to sin that the covering
takes place;
2.
the effect of this covering is cleansing and
forgiveness;
3.it
is before the Lord that both the covering and
its effect take place (cf. especially lev.
4:35; 10:17; 16:30).
This means that
sin creates a situation in relation to the
Lord, a situation that makes the covering
necessary. It is this Godward reference of
both the sin and the covering that must be
fully appreciated. It may be said that the
sin, or perhaps the person who has sinned, is
covered before the sight of the lord. In the
thought of the Old Testament there is but one
construction that we can place upon this
provision of the sacrificial ritual. It is
that sin evokes the holy displeasure or wrath
of God. Vengeance is the reaction of the
holiness of God to sin, and the covering is
that which provides for the removal of divine
displeasure which the sin evokes. It is
obvious that we are brought to the threshold
of that which is clearly denoted by the Greek
rendering in both Old and New Testaments,
namely, that of propitiation. To propitiate
means to “placate,” “pacify,” “appease,”
“conciliate.” And it is this idea that is
applied to the atonement accomplished by
Christ.
Propitiation
presupposes the wrath and displeasure of God,
and the purpose of propitiation is the removal
of this displeasure. Very simply stated the
doctrine of propitiation means that Christ
propitiated the wrath of God and rendered God
propitious to his people.
Perhaps no tenet
respecting the atonement has been more
violently criticized than this one.6 It has
been assailed as involving a mythological
conception of God, as supposing internal
conflict in the mind of God and between the
persons of the Godhead. It has been charged
that this doctrine represents the Son as
winning over the incensed Father to clemency
and love, a supposition wholly inconsistent
with the fact that the love of God is the very
fount from which the atonement springs.
When the doctrine
of propitiation is presented in this light it
can be very effectively criticized and can be
exposed as a revolting caricature of the
Christian gospel. But the doctrine of
propitiation does not involve this caricature
by which it has been misconceived and
misrepresented. To say the least, this kind of
criticism has failed to understand or
appreciate some elementary and important
distinctions.
First of all, to
love and to be propitious are not convertible
terms. It is false to suppose that the
doctrine of propitiation regards propitiation
as that which causes or constrains the divine
love. It is loose thinking of a deplorable
sort to claim that propitiation of the divine
wrath does prejudice to or is incompatible
with the fullest recognition that the
atonement is the provision of the divine love.
Secondly,
propitiation is not a turning of the wrath of
God into love. The propitiation of the divine
wrath, effected in the expiatory work of
Christ, is the provision of God's eternal and
unchangeable love, so that through the
propitiation of his own wrath that love may
realize its purpose in a way that is consonant
with and to the glory of the dictates of his
holiness. It is one thing to say that the
wrathful God is made loving. That would be
entirely false. It is another thing to say the
wrathful God is loving. That is profoundly
true. But it is also true that the wrath by
which he is wrathful is propitiated through
the cross. This propitiation is the fruit of
the divine love that provided it. “Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins” (I John 4:10). The propitiation is
the ground upon which the divine love operates
and the channel through which it flows in
achieving its end.
Thirdly,
propitiation does not detract from the love
and mercy of God; it rather enhances the
marvel of his love. For it shows the cost that
redemptive love entails. God is love. But the
supreme object of that love is himself. And
because he loves himself supremely he cannot
suffer what belongs to the integrity of his
character and glory to be compromised or
curtailed. That is the reason for the
propitiation. God appeases his own holy wrath
in the cross of Christ in order that the
purpose of his love to lost men may be
accomplished in accordance with and to the
vindication of all the perfections that
constitute his glory. “Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his
blood to show his righteousness . . . that he
might himself be just, and the justifier of
him that hath faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25,26).
(3)
Confessional support from
the Belgic Confession, Article 21:
We believe that
Jesus Christ is a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek— made
such by an oath— and that he presented himself
in our name before his Father, to appease his
wrath with full satisfaction by offering
himself on the tree of the cross and pouring
out his precious blood for the cleansing of
our sins, as the prophets had predicted.
For it is written
that “the chastisement of our peace” was
placed on the Son of God and that “we are
healed by his wounds.” He was “led to death as
a lamb”; he was “numbered among sinners” and
condemned as a criminal by Pontius Pilate,
though Pilate had declared that he was
innocent.
Closing comments:
Since man is utterly incapable of
satisfying God’s justice except by
compensation in hell, there's no amount of
good works, or sacrifices, or gifts that man
could offer that would appease the wrath of
God or satisfy His justice. The only
satisfaction, or propitiation, that would be
acceptable to God which could reconcile man to
Himself had to be provided by God Himself.
“And Abraham said, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they
went both of them together” (Genesis 22:8).
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him
and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God,’ who takes
away the sin of the world” (John 1:29)! “But
with the precious blood of Christ, as of a
lamb without blemish and without spot” (1
Peter 1:19). Christ, came into the world in
human flesh to be the perfect sacrifice for
sin and make atonement or propitiation for the
sins of His people.
“The idea of propitiation – that
is, of averting God’s anger by an offering –
runs right through the Bible.” - J.I. Packer
“Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach
me thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:12)
“Study to shew thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Timothy 2:15)
Notes:
1.Albert Barnes, THE AGES DIGITAL
LIBRARYCOMMENTARY, Barnes’
Notes on the Bible, Romans, p.
2081-2083.
2.Orr, James, M.A., D.D.
General Editor, “Entry for 'Propitiation,'”
“International
Standard
Bible Encyclopedia,” (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Eerdmans, reprinted 1986), pp. 2467.
3.John Murray, Redemption
Accomplished and Applied, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Eerdmans Publishing Company 1955),
p.29-32.
“To God, only wise, be glory
through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” (Romans
16:27) and “heirs according to the promise.”
(Galatians 3:28, 29)
Mr. Kettler has previously
published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend the
Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. He served as an
ordained ruling elder in the Orthodox
Presbyterian Church. He worked in and retired
from a fortune five hundred company in
corporate America after forty years. He runs
two blogs sites and is the author of the book
defending the Reformed Faith against attacks,
titled: The
Religion That Started in a Hat.
Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com
For more study:
* For a great source of
theological definitions go to Rebecca writes
at Rebecca Writes
http://www.rebecca-writes.com/theological-terms-in-ao/